A Cadillac owner shot and killed one of three suspects accused of breaking into his vehicle late Monday night in downtown Atlanta, police said.
It was the latest incident in a rash of car break-ins that led to gunfire across metro Atlanta and Georgia.
Officers responded around 11:30 p.m. to the 200 block of Auburn Avenue, where they found four people shot, including the car owner and a man who was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical crews. The location is a stone’s throw from I-85 and near the Municipal Market.
The deceased suspect was identified as 17-year-old Malachi Lundy, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Homicide commander Lt. Andrew Smith told Channel 2 Action News that the owner of the red Cadillac confronted the three men and then there was an exchange of gunfire.
The car owner and injured suspects were taken a short distance to Grady Memorial Hospital, where they were said to be stable. Police did not say if they would face charges. Their names were not provided.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Prior to the shooting, police told the news station that the victim had been in a nearby business meeting where plans for a new nightclub on Auburn Avenue were discussed.
“They were meeting for an opening coming soon. But it was not open at the time,” Smith said.
Investigators likely have video that recorded the shooting, according to Channel 2.
The most recent shooting to make headlines involving a car break-in happened last month when a South Georgia police officer confronted a man breaking into vehicles in Statesboro and was shot. The suspect was arrested and the officer underwent surgery at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.
In February, an Atlanta police sergeant patrolling in the area of Forsyth and Brotherton streets spotted a man in the backseat of a vehicle, its windows shattered. The officer told the man to show his hands before firing into the car at the suspect, who was shot in the head but was expected to survive, police said.
Shots were fired the previous month during two separate car break-ins in South Georgia and DeKalb County. On Jan. 14, a Hahira officer shot at a teenager who fled after he was suspected of breaking into vehicles with a teen accomplice. They were both arrested, police said. Three days later, a 15-year-old boy was arrested after he allegedly fired at an off-duty officer who tried to interrupt an apparent car break-in in DeKalb.
On Sept. 3, 2023, a valet was fatally shot after he spotted a man attempting to break into a truck of someone he knew outside a LongHorn Steakhouse near Uptown Atlanta, previously known as Lindbergh City Center. The suspect was arrested and is facing murder charges.
In August, three people were shot, including two minors, after two metro Atlanta homeowners spotted them allegedly breaking into cars. In one incident in South Fulton’s Magnolia Walk subdivision, a 16-year-old pulled a gun and fired at a resident, who returned fire and shot the teen in the head, police said. Just 24 hours later, a homeowner confronted two people who appeared to be breaking into a car. One of the suspects pulled a gun and pointed it, but the homeowner opened fire and hit both of them, one of whom was a minor, police said.
A previous incident in May 2023 involved a man shot in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hill neighborhood after he confronted another person trying to break into a vehicle. The suspect was seen in a gray Maserati with a temporary tag, police said.
In January 2023, a man was killed and a 15-year-old boy was hospitalized after a suspected car break-in led to a shooting in the 3400 block of Shepherds Path in DeKalb. Investigators believe a teen and possibly two other suspects were breaking into vehicles in the area when they were confronted by the man, who had gone outside to retrieve something from his vehicle, according to police. A confrontation ensued and gunfire was exchanged, leading to the man’s death, police said.
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